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UK Name Distribution


Hollier has always been the most common form of spelling amongst the three, but have the relative proportions changed over time? Where are the names most common?

The following shows the numbers and proportions of the three names as taken from the indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths during the 19th century (1837-1899).

Name

Births

Marriages

Deaths

 

No

%

No

%

No

%

Hollier

1026

73

569

79

647

75

Hollyer

238

17

98

14

149

17

Holyer

137

10

56

8

61

7

Total

1401

 

723

 

857

 

Another view from the 19th century can be gleaned from the comprehensive index to the 1881 census. This shows:-

Name

Number

%

Hollier

613

77

Hollyer

110

14

Holyer

73

9

Total

796

 

There is a degree of error in the foregoing data, as I have not made all the corrections that one might, where Hollyer is recorded as Holyer or vice versa. Distribution maps for the 1881 census can be viewed here:

Distribution for Hollier

Distribution for Hollyer

Distribution for Holyer

With thanks to Harry Wykes for his mapping facility.

Present day distribution can be determined from the Electoral Roll and the Telephone Directory. Both are imperfect, especially the telephone directory, due to the varying numbers of ex-directory subscribers.

Electoral Roll

Name

Number

%

Hollier

605

69

Hollyer

150

17

Holyer

117

13

Total

872

 


Telephone Directory

Name

Number

%

Hollier

205

71

Hollyer

36

12

Holyer

47

16

Total

289

 

This suggests that the relative proportions of the three names have remained broadly the same, but Hollyer and especially Holyer seem to have increased during the 20th century. Holyer seems to have grown in comparison with Hollyer, reversing the 19th century trend for Holyers to take the name Hollyer. Taken together, the total number of Hollier, Hollyer and Holyers in the UK today is probably around 1000-1200.

Support for this estimate and backing up the data from the Electoral Roll, is the new data now available from the Office of National Statistics about the number of surnames of people registered with the NHS:

NHS Registrations

Name

Number

%

Hollier

778

70

Hollyer

192

17

Holyer

139

13

Total

1109

 


The NHS data also reveals the ranking of the 3 surnames in England and Wales today: Hollier 8103; Hollyer 21877 and Holyer 26873.

Of interest from the Telephone Directory is the geographic distribution. The two most populated modern counties for Hollier are West Midlands (16%) and Avon (9%).This shows the traditional heartland of Birmingham and nearby places remains strong,as does Bristol and the surrounding part of old Somerset.

For Hollyer, the two strongest counties are Kent (39%) and Middlesex (11%), while for Holyer they are Kent (30%) and East Sussex(15%). Thus my own old Kent Holyer/Hollyer family dominates.

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